Chips, sandwiches, juice: Pickle products are a big dill

Pickle lovers, rejoice: A myriad of pickle products, like pickle chips and jugs of pickle juice, are popping up in stores and online.

Pickles are popular. Pantry and refrigerated pickles are a $1.1 billion category, growing 6% over the past year, said said Tom McGough, Conagra co-chief operating officer, during a recent event.

“Pickles has always been a flavor that people have loved in snacks,” McGough said, according to USA Today. “Whether it’s in potato chips or even in our Bigs Vlasic Dill Sunflower Seeds.”

Pickle chips

Officials with Vlasic, which is owned by Conagra Brands, recently announced a new product: chips made entirely of pickles. The vacuum-fried chips will offer a less messy alternative to eating traditional pickles from a jar.

McGough said, “Pickle chips are in our innovation pipeline, but still in development.”

There isn’t yet an official release date for the chips.

Pickle sandwiches

If you like pickles on your sandwich, consider taking the topping a bit further by replacing the bread with a giant pickle. Elsie’s, a deli in Haddon Township, New Jersey, offers just that.

“In a nutshell, we are a sandwich shop with no bread in the house,” Elsie’s owner, Katherine Cohen, told Fox29.

The juice seems to be selling — it’s garnered nearly 600 reviews and an average 4.5 out of 5-star rating on Amazon.

“I kept draining huge jars of pickle juice leaving so many uneaten pickles so I was looking for something that tasted JUST LIKE THE JUICE in the pickle jars,” wrote one reviewer named Lulu. “Well, I just opened this and took a sip and it is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!!!”

Pickle juice isn’t just good for its taste, it also can have health benefits. Pickle juice can soothe muscle cramps, aid in hydration and help control blood sugar levels, according to Health Line.

Several reviewers seem to have bought the pickle juice for this reason.

“After mowing the lawn, this is the best way to replenish those electrolytes,” another reviewer wrote.